How women in Game of Thrones became the biggest badasses

Game of Thrones has often been criticised by viewers for its misogynistic treatment of women. Although, the show has a pretty lax attitude towards all its characters, willing to kill any of them off in a heartbeat, it is particularly derogatory to women, no matter whether they are prostitutes, children or queens.

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We’ve seen women burnt alive, married against their will, shamed, stabbed, beaten, strangled and raped – and being pregnant offers no protection. But now, the women of Westeros are fighting back: they are in control and we couldn’t be happier about it.

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The last two seasons have been a turning point. Women are becoming true forces to be reckoned with in their quest for revenge, from Arya on Walder Frey and Cersei on the Church, to Sansa on Ramsay Bolton. We've even seen the major houses lead by women as Lady Olenna was the last living Tyrell, Yara Greyjoy made her pitch for the Iron Islands, Ellaria Sand took over the whole of Dorne, and Lyanna Mormont proved herself as a true badass at the tender age of 11.

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According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics, it is not unusual that the female characters have risen to power at the same time. Studies have shown that high-performing and successful women see their prospects improved when they see other women in high-ranking positions and as role models.

But is this because they are women who have broken away from preconceived gender roles? In this world, a woman's status is defined by name and marriage but none of the major players are married or have living children – dragons aside. So – does Thrones' example assume women can only rise to a position of power if they are unmarried and without children?

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Yet, the portrayal of violence in regard to men vs women is fairly equal. While anger is stereotypically a ‘masculine’ emotion; angry men are often called ‘powerful’ or ‘dominant’, whereas angry women can be labelled ‘unladylike’, 'strident' or much worse. But in Game of Thrones, anger is associated with the need to secure a position and power. In Eastwatch (season seven, episode five), Dany is not viewed as dangerous for burning the Tarlys (R.I.P. Dickon) by Tyrion and Varys due to her sex, but because of her family history and her usually compassionate nature.

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Similarly, Cersei’s psychopathic nature and lust for revenge is not limited to her gender (ahem Joffrey) but because of the terrible things that have happened to her. Her plans are well-thought-out and extremely tactical – even though she is considered the most evil character in Westeros, we are encouraged to appreciate it.

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So then, how did these characters become the badasses that they are?

Cersei

Cersei and Jaime are the only characters in the show with a love plot (and there are obvious problems in that). But despite this, she is still undisputedly one of the most badass characters in the show, thereby going against the traditional role of women in fiction and definitely passing the Bechdel test. She is tactical, cunning, full of revenge and is probably the only character in Westeros that would dare face Dany and her dragons – we respect that.

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Sansa

The young, naïve girl from season one is no more, Sansa has learnt to speak up and has realised that no one else can protect her but herself. Although, her underlying desire for power has already started to cause tension with her sister Arya – and we quickly realised from episode four that you do not want to mess with the faceless ninja AKA Arya Stark. The situation is obviously exacerbated by arch-manipulator Petyr Baelish and we just hope and pray that Arya doesn’t fall for it.

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Arya

Like all the women in Westeros, she has been through a lot. But she has used it to become a full-on assassin and we love her for that.

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Daenerys

Dany is the Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Protector of the Seven Kingdoms, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons, but she is also a true legend. She is self-confident, compassionate, surrounds herself with loyal and resourceful advisors, tries to rally against the stereotypes of her family name and lest we forget, she has three dragons. Dany has the ability to align people from very different backgrounds, case in point she was the first person to ever bring the Dothrakis to Westeros. We truly believe Dany wants to change the established system of ruling for the better and we think she would make a fab Queen of Westeros. Oh, and she’s taught us about the fatal error of underestimation. When she freed the Unsullied, she exchanged the army for one her dragons. At first, we are outraged, thinking "NOT DROGO", but then it all became clear that Daenerys had a plan all along and BBQs the slave trader Kraznys. 🔥

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Gilly

Samuel Tarly's other-half Gilly should not be underestimated. She ran away from her family, her abusive father and everything she has ever known to travel to a foreign land and live among people who she has been brought up to think will kill her. All this with a newborn baby. It’s certainly a very brave thing to do. What’s more, Sam would never have survived the journey to the wall without her fire-making ability.

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But it cannot be ignored that since then she has become a more passive figure, following Sam in his desire to become a Maeister and not really doing that much else. This all came to a head in Eastwatch an episode that left audiences outraged. Gilly was in the middle of saying something that could have chanced the entire course of Westeros history but was interrupted by Sam complaining about his job.

She explains, “Maynard says here that he issued an annulment for a Prince ‘Ragger’ and remarried him to someone else at the same time in a secret ceremony in Dorne. Is that a common thing in the South or …”

Knowing what we know from Bran’s flashback at the end of season six, Jon Snow has been essentially confirmed as the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. But the fact that there was an annulment means that Jon Snow is not a bastard after all, but instead, a legitimate heir to the Iron Throne with even more of a claim than Dany – could this cause problems in future episodes? Also this contrasts the story that Lyanna was raped by Rhaegar (which was already hinted at by Ser Barristan Selmy when he described Rhaegar to Dany as a peaceful man who much preferred singing over fighting and killing.)

It’s all starting to make sense. Sort of.

But instead of listening, Gilly was subjected to mansplaining by Sam much to the outrage of the Twittersphere that claim this is a common occurance in the workplace. We can’t help but think Gilly is not going to stand for that – c’mon gal.

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Olenna

You can’t do an article about powerful women and not include Olenna, she was a boss from her very first appearance, to her dying breath. Rest in peace.

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So, we could very much end up with a woman on the Iron Throne in an indisputable patriarchal society. Go on gals.